Gold steady as investors await more Fed cues
Lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion
[BENGALURU] Gold prices were little changed on Friday (Sep 19) as investors awaited further signals on the US interest rate path after the US Federal Reserve delivered an expected rate cut and indicated a gradual easing of borrowing costs in the months ahead.
Spot gold held its ground at US$3,647.75 per ounce as at 9.25 am.
US gold futures for December delivery added 0.1 per cent to US$3,681.20.
The Fed resumed rate cuts on Wednesday and opened the door to further easing, but tempered its message with warnings of sticky inflation, sowing doubt over the pace of future easing.
Lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.
Fed chair Jerome Powell characterised the policy action as a risk-management cut in response to the weakening labour market and said the central bank was in a “meeting-by-meeting situation” regarding the rate outlook.
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Traders are pricing in a 92 per cent chance of another 25-basis-point cut at the Fed’s October meeting, per the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England kept rates unchanged on Thursday and slowed the pace of its government bond holdings, as policymakers grapple with stubborn inflation, sluggish growth and a volatile debt market.
The Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep rates steady at 0.5 per cent when it meets later in the day.
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, data showed, but the labour market has softened as demand for and supply of workers have diminished.
Meanwhile, gold exports from Switzerland to China jumped 254 per cent in August compared with July, data showed.
Elsewhere, spot silver added 0.2 per cent to US$41.88 per ounce, platinum eased 0.2 per cent to US$1,381.69, and palladium rose 0.5 per cent to US$1,155.98. REUTERS
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